Essay · 12 min read

Conducting a Time Audit

Andy Sparks · Andy Sparks (Hoo Boy) Free Intermediate

Sparks cofounded Mattermark and Holloway, so this is a founder's actual playbook, not a coach's theory. He gives you the whole loop in three moves (Get it, Know it, Use it) and, crucially, a four-question filter to run on every logged activity: stop it if nothing breaks when you don't, delegate it if someone else could do it, reassign the prep, or make it shorter. That filter is what turns a two-week log into two fixed leaks.

• Log with specifics ('reviewed product marketing draft'), not vague buckets ('marketing'), so the readback is honest enough to act on
• Run every activity through stop / delegate / reassign / shorten before you decide to keep it
• Also ask each report 'what do I do that wastes your time?', your calendar isn't the only place your hours leak